Red
by Burnished Angel
Summary: Red never became Allen. He wears no 'mask of Mana'. He walks his own path.
1. Decision

**Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man**

* * *

Red stared at the bruised body before him. Cosimo did it. That was for certain. He looked at the clown burying him. The man was mad. Why did he care? He didn't even know the guy.

Without a word Red turned and walked away. He didn't need friends. Everyone he met was cruel. He entered the tent and hardened his heart.

* * *

"Oi! Red!" Red looked up. Nash was waving from the tightrope. The only one who knew about hiswas the ringmaster, who let him stay in exchange for minimal pay. He was cheap, so he could stay.

His arm had changed to a black charred black. He told none of the weapon it changed into. He liked an ace up his sleeve. Though he couldn't use it often due to the monsters that would attack.

Nash clamored down the ladder. Apparently they were moving again. That was a surprise. Then again, some of the men, including the ringmaster, had gone out last night with rather, lustful, looks in their eyes. I didn't take a genius to know what they were up to. He made sure not to go pick pocketing that night. Those men didn't give a damn about gender.

* * *

Red went to pack equipment. His few possessions were all in a single suit case. Van, a plain girl, perhaps 14 years old, came to help him. In this amoral place, her lack of beauty was a blessing.

"Hello" she spoke in a small voice. If Red hadn't known better, he would have thought her to harmless. She was slight in stature, but very ruthless. If he watched carefully, he'd catch glimpses of the knives tucked in her raggedy dress.

"Do y'know where we're headed?" he asked in a flat voice.

"Some place in Germany." she replied in kind.

"That far, huh."

"Ya wanna know what they did?"

"Musta been real bad this time."

"Yep. Got hold of the Mayor or whatever they call him. Well, they got 'is lil girl."

"How little?"

"Dunno"

By noon they had left.

* * *

The German town was dreary. The October sky overcast. Red and Van clamored out of the cramped carriage.

The cook dragged Van off to help with stew. With nothing else to do, Red was sent into town to hand out flyers.

Red walked out, handing out a flyer every once in awhile. He strategically avoided the children. He could here them planning to throw poo at some woman. Children are innocent. Psht. Yeah right.

* * *

The next day, Red and Van were sent out. Their main job was pick pocketing. Anything to satisfy the ringmaster's greed. The people in town were rather oblivious.

On their route, they heard children singing. They went to check it out.

Huh, so those were the brats from yesterday. Idiots. There was no such thing as luck. He stayed back and watched the show. It wasn't his problem. He glanced at Van

* * *

**A/N: Hey. I'm Burnished Angel. I hope you enjoy this fic. I'm new so, yeah.**

**On the latest chapters, the only thing that surprised me was that Allen offered to be Nea's host. I'm not surprised he's older than 16. His past is very vague and his origins are unknown. Also, Cross said Nea implanted his memories before he died. Nea died ****35 years ago****. **

**Allen is my favorite character. But there are some things that make me thing think that he's really messed up. And I don't just mean this from all the crap he went through. I digress.**

**I do believe I have the laziest friend ever. He hasn't caught up on DGM in several months. Drives me crazy. He's the only person I know reads. Huuuh.**

**Fun Fact: Van is short for Vanity. Like the furniture. She doesn't really know that though. She just likes the word. But everyone calls her Van. No she doesn't have a 'real' name. She was abandoned.**


	2. Miranda, ugly, unlucky, and useless

A/N: I don't own D. Gray-man

* * *

The next morning, Red, Van, and a few others were sent out in pairs on their "real" jobs. Pick pocketing.

When Red heard the sound of singing, he was intrigued. They followed the noise to find the brats from the previous night. They were clearly taunting the rather ghastly woman.

Well it wasn't like he cared. So he simply busied himself with the oblivious fools watching the spectacle.

Van however, watched with a small smile curled upon her lips.

* * *

That night, they at the foul gruel left for them and listened to the cheers of the crowd. They had gotten a good haul, so no one was beat.

Red gave a start as the air pulsated. Van looked up with a confused expression.

"Y'hear somethin'?" she asked.

"No. I don't think so. "

"Y'sure?"

Red nodded. He never told her what he felt. It wasn't her business.

* * *

The next morning, Red was confused. Everything was happening the same way as yesterday! Even down to the way the animal tamer tripped over a barrel, got a fateful of something wet and yellow, and let go of a monkey's leash. That he didn't mind seeing again.

Even their unceremonious departure from the circus was the same. Shoved off the grounds, Emma, one of the younger children, began to sob. A young woman rushed over to comfort her. Just like yesterday. Emma even pilfered the exact same purse!

This carried on, day after day. Nothing changed. He felt that he was the only one aware of time passing by.

* * *

One day, everything changed. The woman, subject to children's cruelty, dogged the poo on the tenth day. They hadn't missed before. He wasn't alone.

But he was always alone. The woman was a means to an end. With another person, he may be able to escape this möbius loop.

He broke his own pattern and approached the woman. She in turn, looked shocked. Not a surprise, he was even stranger than she was.

"Hey! If you talk to her you'll get infected!" It was the brats. They weren't even saying that out of concern for his safety. They just wanted to drive the knife deeper.

He ignored them.

* * *

Red wondered why he ever approached this woman. She was completely incompetent. Not that he would say so, of course. But then again, it could be reverse psycholo-. No, better not to take the risk.

He took another glance. She had not stopped sobbing. It was getting a tad -absurdly- ridiculous.

"I'm, just, so happy," she got out between sobs, "that someone, has finally noticed!" At that she once again became incomprehensible.

Red failed to resist the urge to roll his eyes.

"What were you doing the original?" Damn, he felt like a head shrink (psychiatrist).

"Original?" She blinked. Was she an idiot?

"The first October 28th." He elaborated.

"Oh... I lost my hundredth job. Is that important?" ? Wow. Maybe the kids were right after all.

"I, don't think so..."

The woman, he now knew to be Miranda, burst into tears once more. Red suppressed a sigh. This was a pain.

* * *

Fic Fact: Red and 7 other children are kept on hand at the circus for pickpocketing. As well as other unmentionables.

A/N: Turns out it is physically possible to accidentally elbow yourself in the back of your calf. I'm going to have one heck of a bruise.


	3. Arrival

Disclaimer: I don't own DGM

* * *

Red felt like bashing his head on the wall. The woman wouldn't stop sobbing! To be frank, it was ruining his shirt. He only had three, thank you very much!

"I'm - I'm just so happy some - hic - one else can see!" Were people even able to look that dead before actually keeling over? "I thought that I was hallucinating! Th-that I was finally going insane!" Whoever said she wasn't already? Figures the only person who might have a hint as to what was going on was out of her mind. And useless, she said it herself.

He resisted the urge to stab/shove/hit her and hesitantly patted her on the back. Thank whoever listened (or not) that no one important was aware of the rewind. He decided that enough was enough, and eased her off him before standing.

"I can't say I get your problem." Brutal honesty was the best policy in his opinion. "But I think you're just lazy." She looked at him vacantly. "Work. Fight. Do something. Don't just walk around following some schedule! Dammit! If you know whatever the hell's going on, stop it!"

"But... I can't do anything. Everything I try to do I fail." She looked down at her clasped hands.

"Why do you try?"

"Huh?" She looked up at him.

"I mean, why do you try if you always fail? If you've managed this long you can do something. People have purpose, but it's impossible to tell what until it's found."

She finally - finally! - stopped crying. She gave him a watery smile that reminded him of old Sandy. The old bat never stopped crying until she finally dropped dead. Well, she stopped crying. That was a plus.

* * *

They spent the rest of the day searching around town for jobs. It was advantageous for them that time rewound each day. She was able to try and retry for jobs that used skills she somewhat knew.

In the end however, he had to take her to the circus to pull her out of her deepening pit of despair. It wasn't a good, or advisable, move, but he was desperate. He was trapped in a winding town with no company but a pitiful wreck of a woman.

Then the Exorcists came.

Red had heard of them once or twice before. Namely as people to avoid. Apparently they stole some animal trainer years before he arrived. Plus, they were near impossible to rob. Red wanted to test his skills on one of them.

He looked over from his hiding spot. The two women were talking with the ringmaster. The man looked like he was trying to sweet talk them into something. Red did not miss the man's lecherous leer as he scrutinized the ponytailed one.

The exorcist didn't miss it either.

She punched the man so hard Red was certain the bastard got whiplash. She then proceeded to shout at him and cuss him out. Okay. Maybe she wasn't a woman. The, now known to be male, Exocist moved to draw the sword at his hip.

"Van's lookin' for ya" Red turned to find Little Mite. She had completely disregarded the fact that he was hiding and was staring at him with a hand on her scantily clad hip.

"You could've killed me you know." He told her, rather annoyed. He had things he would rather be doing than talking to a whore.

"No big loss." She shrugged. "Sides, nobody screaming."

"And how's that a good way to tell? Didn't Jonny get sold into some slave ring a week ago with none the wiser?" She shrugged.

"What they talkin' 'bout that got ya so intrested? Ya don' usely give shit 'bout nuthin'" She gave him a hard look.

"Exorcists." Was his means of explanation.

"Che, bastards. But what they doin' here? We got nuthin' 'portant." She looked over at them. The male Exorcist had been restrained by his apparently more even-tempered companion. Though, he was still making an attempt for the ringmaster's head. Red hoped he succeeded. "Don' this place have rep? Why _girls_?"

"One's not."

"A girl?" She arched an eyebrow at them. "Ya kiddin' me? Don' ya see the hair?"

"He just shouted it to the world." He looked at her flatly.

"Ya got super hearin' or sumptin'? I can' hear nuthin' from this distance." Disbelief drenched her words.

" Maybe you're going deaf from work." He calmly informed her before focusing his attention back on the Exorcist duo. She sputtered behind him.

A minute shift in his surroundings was his only warning before he was forced to dodged a well aimed crotch-shot. Thank whoever. That heel looked very pointy. How she kept her balance, he would never know.

It was even more amazing since she was hopping up and down on one foot. She had kicked the very cage he was hiding behind. Which also woke up the monkeys inside of it.

They both sprinted away. Dammit! He really wanted to keep an eye on them.

* * *

Thirty yards away, Kanda Yu whipped around. A pair of suspicious individuals were running away from them. If they were akuma they would've attacked, but there was no guarantee they weren't brokers. He made to pursue them, but Lenalee snatched his wrist in a crushing grip. He turned to tell her off.

She had a strained smile and her eye was twitching. Now that he was paying attention, a faint aura of murderous intent was emanating from her.

He decided that he would rather not die yet.

"There are Exorcists here." Miranda looked up from her needlework. Red was leaning against one of the many cages behind her.

"Isn't that a good thing?" She wondered aloud. "They may be able to help us."

"No." Was Allen's immediate rebuttal. "Exorcists are kidnappers and murderers. I'm more concerned with _why _they aren't affected by the rewind." He huffed. "Play dumb. It shouldn't be to hard. Just don't let them know we aren't affected. Who knows what might happen."

She nodded.

* * *

"Dammit!" Kanda shouted. He and Lenalee had been sent on this stupid ass misson to this goddamned town a week ago and he was livid. They had no leads. Not one akuma had popped up. And to top it off, the _fucking barrier _wouldn't let them leave.

How hard would it be to decapitate that bastard supervisor without Lenalee finding out?

* * *

Broke 1,000 word barrier! Yaaaay!

For the inevitable shippers who will try to read nonexistent subtext, there is none. No Kanda/Lena pairing, no Yullen, no real Poker Pair (though I might make a joke about it), and no Laven. **This is a no romance story!** I digress.

Fic Fact: Hmm. Can't really say that one due to spoiler... Ah! Red's favorite food is meat pies. It's not much but I can't think of anything else without spoilers at the moment. Somebody ask questions!


	4. Eyes Outside

A/N: "Ripple Effect" is my reasoning behind changing events from day to day. I'm actually exaggerating Kanda's character, he's a heck of a lot more complex in cannon. Sorry for not updating, but I just had exams. Of course I shouldn't be writing this anyway considering that I have an SAT on Saturday. Maybe it's my parents' psychic powers manifesting. To nag me when they aren't around to. I digress.

Not from Red or Miranda's POV this this time. Yay! (difficult to remember to say Red instead of Allen. They are technically the same person and my mind identifies them as such. Even if the personas are completely different.

I would put Akuma-speak in italics or bold, but I understand it can be a bit of again to read that. Especially when there's a lot of it.

**Yume Li - Can Kanda and Red become friends?**

Burnished Angel - C-can't breathe. *laughing* Too funny! No particular offence against you Yume-chan, I just can't see those two getting along in any universe or incarnation. That is part of the reason Yullen makes no sense to me. If anything, in cannon they could sorta maybe be called vitriolic friends. And just recently due to debts not of the Cross variety.

Disclaimer: I don't own DGM. I hate the spell check on this thing. It tried to make me write don'town just now. The nerve! *hmph!*

* * *

"Rhode-sama(1) has arrived" An akuma floated(flew?) over to four other Level Twos.(2) It was taller than any man and horribly warped. There was only some ratty hair and a screaming mask stretched over the left side of its head. Its right arm was detached from below the shoulder with a hand twice the size of a human head and metal "nails". There was no left arm to speak of. Just a bizarre wind-up key. Like one would see in a toy. Several black holes spanned its chest and ran down its ball-shaped stomach.(3)

The other akuma cheered. Now that Rhode-sama was here, they would be able to find that filthy innocence!

A young girl rounded the corner to the dark alley. She had spiky black hair(4) and dark eyes.(Human form people!) Slung over her shoulder was a pink(purple?) umbrella with a pumpkin head.(5) She smirked at the akuma.

"I want to play a game. You're going to help me." The akuma felt a cold sweat break out on the back of their necks. (Although, I don't think they can sweat. And I'm pretty sure that some don't even have necks.) The girl smiled a more childish grin then, seemingly filled with innocence(Irony). The effect was ruined however, because at the same time, her skin darkened into a deadened gray, and stigmata opened to crown her head. Her pupils became slits as her irises lightened into a golden hue. This was not the gold of wealth, but rather the piercing color of a predator.

* * *

Lenalee continued to search around the circus. There was definitely something there. The other day, someone had spied on them while they spoke with the ringmaster. While she had been sure yesterday to make sure Kanda did _not _meet the ringmaster (due to the prior disaster) it shouldn't have effected thing enough for the eavesdroppers to appear. Even if they were akuma, it could prove valuable to finding the innocence.

She tried to remember the brief flash she had seen while keeping Kanda in check. It had been a reddish color, albeit dull, she was trying to recall whether it was clothing or hair. It wasn't bright to the point of looking artificial, and it could easily be lost in a crowd.

On the subject of Kanda, he had been sent to the town to hunt akuma. Hopefully he wouldn't hunt people too.

* * *

1. I am going to use the same spelling as Rhode Island, the state, for this fic. Let me know if I use another variation by mistake.

2. I double checked the manga for this. There were initially five Level Twos in Miranda's hometown. (By the way, does anyone know its name? I couldn't find it. All I know is that it's in Germany.)

3. The description is based off of the manga. You know, the first one that pinned Miranda against the wall. That's why I didn't mention color.

4. Hoshino-san says that Rhode's hair is black, despite its appearance in the anime. I'm trying to stay consistent with what she says. So if I miss something, please tell me.

5. According to Wikipedia, Halloween didn't spread to continental Europe until the 1990's. Definitely not a part of DGM, set in the fictional late 19th century. In other words, late 1800's. That is why I didn't say Lero had a jack-o-lantern head. (I look up the weirdest stuff when I'm writing.)

Fic Fact: The ages are the same as in cannon. A decision wouldn't change when they were born. *Note: not speaking of parents' decisions*

Little Mite is called that for reasons that would break the censor limit on this fic. Oh, and she's stronger than she looks. And on the small side. Which is saying something considering that the average height back then was at least a few inches shorter than it is today.


End file.
